The Wii U has finally broken 10 million units sold, and Nintendo says it’s thanks to a little game called Splatoon. Nintendo cites strong software sales and “favourable sales of amiibo” for its profits, with 4.5 million games shifted on Wii U and 7.9 million games shifted on 3DS. He was 55. Iwata was credited for leading Nintendo through one of its most successful periods, which featured the launch of Nintendo’s most popular home console – the Wii – and the DS handheld. Nintendo’s 3DS software sales fell from 8.6 million in 2014 to 8 million this year.
Advertisement
Nintendo wants to continue the momentum with the Wii U, which has underperformed as a console, by pushing titles such as “Yoshi’s Wooly World” and “Super Mario Maker” ahead of the year-end holiday shopping season.
Let’s be honest: the Wii U hasn’t been much of a success for Nintendo. The 3DS sold just over 1 million units during the same period.
The big driver was Splatoon, which sold 1.6m units worldwide as of the close of the quarter June 30. Nintendo’s quarterly financials were released yesterday and have been thoroughly picked over, but an interesting note is that The Legend of Zelda Wii U is now listed as “TBD” or To Be Determined. Earned revenue sits at 90.2 billion yen (£466.4 million), which rose by 21 percent in comparison to a year ago. He announced new hardware, codenamed NX, that the company would unveil next year, presumably to replace its ailing Wii U.
Advertisement
“The loss of Iwata is unlikely to affect Nintendo’s short-term performance, including its plan to launch mobile phone businesses with DeNA, as its short-term projects have already started”, said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo.
